Seven exercises with weights to work your back

These seven exercises will help you work your back in the gym using bars or dumbbells. Each of them works different parts of the back so use several to do a complete workout.

As you can see, most of the exercises are oars since this is the best way, using weights, to stimulate the back and work each portion of it. Are left out of this list exercises based on pulleys or, for example, the dominated.

Keep in mind that, working with free weights and pulls, most of the following exercises, in addition to the back, work other muscle groups such as the biceps and even, in some cases, the abdomen.

Rowing with bar

We started with one of my favorites to work the back because it allows us to use high weights and progress both in strength and in hypertrophy. The row with bar works on all the latissimus dorsi, the greater round and the posterior deltoid.

We started by raising the bar of the floor with a dead weight, so as not to hurt ourselves, and we inclined the torso forward at an angle of about 45º while we slightly flexed the legs to find ourselves comfortable.

In this position we pull the bar to the chest while we take the elbows back. We should notice how he works and contracts his back keeping a few seconds the highest position of the movement and then go back to stretch the arms and complete a repetition.

Remo Pendlay

The Pendlay rowing is a very popular variation of the previous exercise in which the torso must be practically parallel to the ground and the bar must fall on it in each repetition. To reach this position we will have to bend our legs more in such a way that when we stretch our arms completely, the discs of the bar reach the ground.

It is important to keep the back straight throughout the movement, rest the bar on the floor between repetition and repetition and avoid impulsive movements with the torso. The force must come out full arms and back.

Rowing Yachts

This is another of the variations of the rowing with bar and in this case we acquire a position totally opposite to that of the previous exercise. In this case we work with the back practically in vertical.

We simply bend our legs a little, the bar rests on the upper part of our thighs, and we tilt the torso slightly forward. In this position we paddle with the bar to the chest and we are increasing the implication of the numbers.

Rowing with dumbbells

We put aside the bars for now and work the dumbbell with the dumbbell. Thanks to these we can do it unilaterally by working each part of the body individually.

To do this exercise we support the knee and one of the hands with the arm stretched on a bench while, with the other hand, we hold the dumbbell in such a way that it hangs on the side of the bench. In this position we pull the dumbbell taking it to the chest side of the same site.

Rowing on T bar

This is another variation of the oar using in this case a narrow V grip that we place in a bar. The bar should be supported on a corner so we can leverage it. The rowing bar T can also be performed with specific machines for this.

It is important in this case not to mobilize the back during movement. Whether you do it on the machine or free on the bar, it must remain straight and rigid, playing a little with the flexion of the legs to cushion the movement if necessary.

Rowing with bar

The rowing to the neck is an exercise that is usually put into the routines of shoulders although with it we also work the deltoids and the high back.

To do this exercise we hold a bar with a separation similar to that of our shoulders with the palms facing our body. In this position we must bring the bar to the chin in a straight line attached to the body leaving the elbows above the shoulders and noticing how the back contracts in each repetition.

Dead weight

Finally, the deadlift is an exercise that works a large part of the muscles of your body including the lower back and back. Normally, this exercise is usually included in leg training, but it can be done without a day of torso or back.

Remember that to do this exercise it is important to use Olympic material so that the bar is at a suitable height from the ground and, in addition, the bar must remain stuck to the body during the entire movement even touching our thighs.

Another common mistake to avoid is to bend the back in the lower part of the movement, this being dangerous and counterproductive. Try to bring your shoulders back by pulling out your chest and bending your torso forward so that your shoulders are on the bar at the beginning of the movement.